anxiety queries..?

Question

what is the best way to control anxiety?
the doc prescribed me drugs but i dont feel comfortable taking them..
i would really like to get over it on my own and believe i can! any ideas?
and anyone got any success stories (always nice to hear!)

Answer 1

There are many different ways that a person can struggle with anxiety. Post-trauma, obsessions/compulsions, phobias, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, etc. There are effective ways to manage anxiety, mostly through psychotherapy.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Exposure Therapy
Psychoeducation

These are often used together as part of one treatment regimen with a psychologist or clinical social worker. If done correctly, it has pretty great results. In my opinion, anxiety is one of the easiest types of disorders to treat from a psychotherapeutic approach.

Drugs prescribed for anxiety are typically of a class called benzodiazepines, which are acutely effective, but habit-forming and not a good way to manage anxiety over the long-term. Nothing else drug-wise is very effective at managing anxiety.

It's good that you want to beat this on your own and believe you can. I believe you can too. Anxiety is a very treatable disorder. Contact your insurance company to find out where you're covered to receive psychotherapy.

Answer 2

I used to think exactly the same way that you are thinking now. I tried everything including meditation, yoga, self-help books, I had a period of time when I was drinking alcohol to try and help with the situation, and I spent almost $200 on a set of self-help tapes. None of it worked. There were times when the anxiety was horrible and then there were good times when it was under control. After a death in the family, I had the worst panic attack I've ever had. That's when I decided to talk to my doctor about my anxiety condition. I've been on Zoloft and Xanax for about a year now. I still have some anxiety, but it's dramatically less than what it's always been. Why continue to suffer? At least try the drugs for awhile and get some relief. Talking to my doctor about this was the smartest thing I've ever done, medically speaking.

Answer 3

I found effexor worked for me in the sense that it made the extremes less. I really didn't like taking meds either, but I had tried by myself for quite a while to fix things and that wasn't working. Meds didn't get rid of my anxiety, but it enabled me to feel I could work on things that were the source of my problems. I also felt much better after my emotionally manipulative ex left (he left because I started standing up for myself).

Give it some time for meds to get in your system, then slowly start examining what *you* would like different in your life. Do a lot of reading. Sometimes some material will click, sometimes it won't.

I used to have huge social anxiety, but I got over that by using meds for a while. I also got rid of friends who were a bad influence and used me. I slowly started forcing myself to do the things I always wanted to do. The start of it all was when I joined a sports team full of people I didn't know, and told myself I would become friends with a nice girl there.

I'd say you can't really "control" anxiety. But you can change how it influences you. You also have to remember (and truly understand!) that everyone experiences anxiety, whether they are "sick" or not. It's normal to feel anxiety about all sorts of situations!

Something I discovered about myself if that I made an obligation that others knew about, I would stick to it. So I told one of my friends I joined a sports team and I would be playing this summer.

When I joined the team, I was really anxious and worried that I might freak out, but I told myself that it was ok I was nervous because I was in a stressful situation. I was planning to "force" myself to say hi, and I started freaking out about freaking out. I pushed myself to say 'hi' anyways, and it all turned out ok. When I was able to do this, I realized I could do more. I'm not saying it wasn't difficult - it was. But I realized I had more power than I thought and if something didn't go well, there was never a horrendous consequence.

That was less than 2 years ago. I've had more than one person call me a "party animal" or "social butterfly" because I go out so much and always seem busy!

Decide what you want to do, make a small commitment, and stick to it. You'll surprise yourself!

One thing I considered about meds is that even if they are a placebo effect, they still helped me, so it didn't matter. Taking them was worth it.

I still get anxiety on occasion, but only in certain situations. Figuring out beforehand how you will cope with stressful situations helps a lot. Learning to understand that you have a right (and it's reasonable) to be upset or angry at some situations helps too.

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

I suffered for 6 yrs from full blown anxiety. At one point I was nearly house bound, only able to go out by sheer willpower, not wanting to be labeled crazy. Daily battles with the dizziness, heart pounding fear. Night after night not able to sleep. I had made some strides getting better by reading books and so on... but EFT took it all away. No more panic attacks, no more anxiety. You can learn to do it yourself for free (link below) or you can contact me as I am teaching it to others now. You can look up EFT on youtube as well. It does look odd, but I can tell you with a certainty that it does work. It has reclaimed my life and that of thousands of other people. Some with disorders as serious as vietnam era PTSD. Give it a try. As a short description, it is just accupressure, using various points on your body and repeating short phrases. Nothing to it. Looks funny, works great.

Answer 5

I struggle with anxiety too. I would try reading the Bible and learning about God and Jesus. I've put my faith in him, and he has helped me a great deal. I still feel anxious at some points, but with His help, you will be able to get through a lot.

These three Bible verses may help you...

Phillipians 4:6-7
6Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. 7Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.

Matthew 6:27
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?

1 Peter 5:7
7God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.


Hope that helps!

Answer 6

Eliminate Social Anxiety Shyness : http://SocialAnxiety.uzaev.com/?tfZU

Answer 7

I used the meds for about 6 months. Then I gradually went off them. It kind of "reset" my brain chemistry and got me in the right way of thinking. That was 3 years ago and I've been fine since.

Answer 8

Anxiety never killed anyone. If you are willing to confront your anxiety with all its unpleasantness, it will eventually leave you alone. There are different approaches to eliminating anxiety. The best is desensitization. This involves exposure to anxiety until it doesn't bother you anymore.

Answer 9

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheOpenDoorForsupport/